Mechanical bill-board.



s. A. ARNOLD. MECHANICAL BILL BOARD.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 5. I9I5.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

S. A. ARNOLD.

MECHANICAL BILL BOARD.

`APPLICATION FILED MAY 5. 1915. v 1.201.913. I Patented 001. 17,1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

S. A. ARNOLD.

MECHANICAL BILL BOARD. APPLICATION man MAY 5. 1915.`

Patented. 001;. 17, l1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEETS.

Fil-.7`

NTD

SHEFFIELD A. ARNOLD, 0F BROOKLINE, MASSACHUSETTS.

MECHANICAL BILL-BOARD.

naciera.

Application filed May 5, 1915. Serial No. 25,937.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, SHEFFIELD A. ARNOLD, l

a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Brookline, in the county of Norfolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in MechanicalA Bili-Boards, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide an advertising device wherein an object vor a portion thereof illustrated on a billboard is given reciprocatory, oscillatory, rotary, or other motion with respect tothe -bill-board for the purpose of more eii'ectively attracting the attention of the public to the advertisement.

Several illustrative embodiments of my invention are shown in the vdrawings which accompany andform a part of this specification; but it will be understood that many variations may be made in the particular apparatus illustrated without departing from the principle of my invention.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a front elevation of a mechanical bill-board embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a front elevation of a modification. Fig. 5 is a horizontal section taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a front elevation of another modification. Fig. 7 is a vertical section taken on the line 7-7 of Fig. 6.

In the particular drawingsy selected for more fully disclosing my invention, 10 represents a flat surface, such for examplefas a bill-board carrying an advertising illustration, which may be painted thereon or applied thereto in any manner, as for eX- ample, by pasting on said bill-board a paper bill on which said illustration is printed.

In the present instance the bill-board has a portion of a figure of a boy 11 painted thereon and this painted figure is provided with a complementary movable portion consisting, in this particular embodiment of my invention, of a jointed sectional arm of metal or other suitable.` material, of which the upper' arm 12 is pivoted to the billboard at-12 and the lower arm 13 connected to the upper arm by a pin 14 passing through a Slot 15 in the bill-board and fixed to the pitman 16 which is attached to the strap 17 of the eccentric 18. rIhe gearwheel 19, to the outer face of which said eccentric is secured, is suitably j ournaled in a bracket 20` and meshes with a spur-gear 2l of any suitable .prime mover, such as the electric motor 22, said motor and bracket bemg carried by and inclosed within the casing 23 adapted to be detachably secured to therear of the bill-board by the bolts 23 or other suitable means.

It will be obvious that the mechanism shown, which of course is merely an eX-v ample of any one of a great variety of mechanisms suitable for my purpose, will cause the upper arm to oscillate about its pivot 12 and the lower arm which carries the representation of a brush cooperating with a vshoe painted on the bill-board to reciprocate, and the whole structure to give the appearance of a boy polishing a'shoe. In order to insure the proper movement of thelower arm, suitable guiding means may be employed, such as the pin 13 secured to the inner face of said arm and projecting into a slot 13 in the bill-board.

Inasmuch as my improved advertising device is intended primarily for application yto a 'bill-board of the ordinary type located as usual on a vacant lot or the roof of a building, it is desirable that the actuating means be a motor of the continuously-operating type, such as an electric motor, which the casing with its inclosed parts constitutes a portable self-contained means whereb bill-board of the ordinary type may freadil-'S be converted into an animated bill-board.

In that embodiment of my invention shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the gear-wheel 19 has its bearings in the brackets 20 and the pitman 16 which is connected with the eccentric strap 17 causes the rod 25 to reciprocate through the guide 26, and thereby move the slide 27 carrying a painted representation of human eyes back and forth across the' openings 28, 28 in the bill-board, which, as shown in Fig. 4, are cut out in the shape of eye-sockets. Such oscillation of said slide gives the iigure 11 painted on the billboard 10 the appearance of moving its eyes, thereby, as above stated, more effectively to attract the attention of the public to the advertisement.

i- .the belts 3l, 31

sion of the ligure opening and shutting its eyes.

I do not limit'myself to pictures of human figures having complementary movable members, or in fact to any particular character of illustration, and as shown in Fig. 6, I may apply the principle of my inven tion to pictures of inanimate objects. In this particular case, the spindle of the gear- Wheel 19, journaled lin the brackets 20 is provided With pulleys 30, connected by to the pulleys v32, 32 which are secured to the axles 33, 33, respectively, of the rotary members 34, 3l constructed to represent automobile wheels, and the latter by means of the bearings 35 are pivotally connected to the bill-board at the proper points to complete the picture 11" of an automobile painted thereon. When the motor 22 is energized the members 34 are both caused to revolve in the same direction.

It Will be obvious that by ymeans of the present invention there is provided a simple devlce, inexpensive 'to construct and eco- .nomical to operate, whereby the effectiveness of the present system ot'bill-boai'dadvertising is greatly increased by producing moving eii'ects, and that the principle herein briefly disclosed by reference to three embodiments of my invention is capable of practically infinite extension and application.

Having thus described several illustrative embodiments of my invention, without, however, limiting the same thereto, What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is*

The combination with a bill-board having an advertising device represented on one face thereof, of a movable me1nbei"forming part of said advertising device and supported by said bill-board, means for guiding said member, a casing removably secured to the other face of said bill-board, a motor in said casing, driving connections between the motor and the movable member also supported in said casing independently of the motor whereby the casing with the motor and driving connections can be removed from the bill-board as a unit upon detachment of the movable member therefrom without disengaging the movable member from the board.

In testimony whereof, I have 'hereunto subscribed my name this 3rd day of May,

SHEF F IELD A. ARNOLD.

Witnesses: i

FREDERICA GoLDE, RALPH E. p SAWYER. 

